It wasn’t too long ago that Steve Spurrier was gifting Dan Mullen celebratory bottles of wine. Now the Head Ball Coach is sharing his thoughts on what went wrong for Mullen as the head coach of the Gators.

Spurrier, who stays involved with the Florida athletic department as an ambassador, recently appeared on 95.3 WDAE’s “Ronnie and TKras.” Spurrier feels things started going in the wrong direction for Mullen late last season.

“I thought it started going south last year. We played LSU at home and Kyle Pitts had a little minor injury. He warms up before the game and I don’t know if the trainer or whoever said we should hold him out if we can,” Spurrier said. “It reminded me of the NFL when you’ve already clinched the division and you hold some guys out late in the year. I just felt maybe it took some momentum away. We lost to LSU, about a 60-yard field goal there at the end. We played Alabama close. We’re pretty good at playing Alabama close. We don’t beat them but we play them close. Then the guys opted out of the (Cotton Bowl).”

Since the LSU loss, Florida is below .500 against Power 5 opponents, going 2-6 in SEC play during the 2021 season. Spurrier identified lack of effort as the biggest disappointment of Mullen’s final season.

“We were all disappointed. I think the thing we were most disappointed in was the effort,” Spurrier said. “Everybody can’t win, we know that. But you do, you’re supposed to and required to give maximum effort all the time and play with discipline, things of that nature. Somehow or another we lost that…”

[H/T On3]